The Jenna Thing
by Chezza456
Summary: What happened on the day of the fire, from Toby's point of view. Oneshot.


I was in my bedroom when the explosion shook the house. Startled, I rushed to the window and glanced out. The trailing smoke led my eyes straight to the garage and I could see that a fire was burning fiercely inside. Shit. My motorbike was in there, I'd been working on it for months and it was my prize possession. I snatched my cell phone from the desk and dialled 911. As the called connected I spotted movement in the bushes a few hundred metres from the garage. I looked closely and realised it was that Alison girl and her group of friends; Emily, Spencer, the other two who I didn't quite know the names of. They all looked worried, starring at the fire. All of them except Alison. I could see that she was talking to them, gesturing towards my house. She must have done this. The bitch had set fire to my garage. A voice at the end of the line spoke and I hurriedly told them I needed a fire engine. _And the police_. I'd had to deal with enough because of her and her lies. She wasn't getting away with this.

Once I'd made the call I then rushed outside to see if I could do anything to stop the fire myself. As soon as I stepped out of the door I felt the heat from the flames. Thick smoke was filling the air and I covered my mouth and nose as I stumbled towards the burning building. The windows had blown out and the broken glass crunched under my feet. I made my way round to the door and smashed it open with a hard kick. The flames roared and leapt out at me and I fell backwards. The intensity of the heat had increased and smoke fumbled out. I stared in dismay. Whether the fire engine got here in 5 minutes or 30, my bike would be ruined. I'd spent all my time and money on that thing, and Alison and her groupies had taken it away, just like that. I was furious. I picked myself up and turned to where they were hidden, ready to unleash my anger. But then I heard a scream. I stopped, and slowly turned back to the garage, my anger falling away in worry. The scream had come from inside. _Jenna_. I felt numb and didn't know what to do. I was frozen to the spot and I couldn't think straight. The fire engine was coming, but I didn't know how long we'd have to wait. It wasn't my job to rescue her; the guy on the phone had said not to do anything to put myself in danger. _But I couldn't let her die in there_. Suddenly, I found myself bursting through the door and into the heart of the inferno. Everything was a bright shade of orange as the flames licked the walls. Shielding my face from the heat, I fought my way into the middle of the room and scanned around for Jenna. I spotted her in the far corner, crouched down on the floor in a ball, crying out for help. Even after everything that had happened between us, with all my reasons to hate her, I could see that in this moment she was terrified and that as her brother it was my duty to save her.

I pushed my way through the piles of metal parts to get to her and she yelped at the crashes, lifting her head and looking in my direction. As she did I saw how her face was covered with blood. My throat closed up as I stared for a second in shock.  
"Toby?" She stuttered fearfully. Her eyes were closed and she was desperately trying to wipe the blood from her face. I quickly knelt down next to her, scooping her into my arms and lifting her from the floor. She gasped in shock and turned her head towards me. "Toby? I can't see anything..." Her voice was barely even a whisper. She was shaking in my arms and despite my reservations I held her closer to my body. She quickly buried her face into my chest. Then, without stopping I fought my way back through the flames to the door. It was harder while carrying Jenna, but once out in the open air I stumbled as far away from the burning building as I could possibly get before my knees buckled. I tried to let Jenna down but she clung onto me like a child, still shaking and whimpering.

"Jenna, it's ok. You're safe now" I told her, trying to steady my breathing. She shook her head timidly.  
"Toby, I can't see anything" She repeated. "I can't open my eyes..." I stared at her face, unsure of what to say. What could I say? I glanced back over to where Alison had been hiding out with her posse. They were gone. I sighed in frustration. If only I'd gone over to them earlier. But if I had then it would be murder I'd be accusing them of, not arson.

Once the fire engine had arrived and requested for a back-up ambulance I finally turned back my attention to finding the group that had caused this. The police hadn't arrived yet, so I had several minutes to seek them out of hiding and confront them into confessing. Just as I was about to start looking I spotted Alison strolling over, acting all 'high and mighty' like usual. I couldn't believe her cheek.

"I know it was you" I snapped angrily as she came into earshot. She glared back at me as she came closer. "The police are on their way and I'm telling them exactly what you've done." She let out a short laugh and shook her head. I stared back at her in disbelief. She was so full of herself and I hated her.  
"No you're not. You think I didn't see what was going on in there?" She retaliated fiercely. I was taken aback slightly. What did she know about what was in there. Alright, it wasn't _just_ motorcycle parts in there, but no-one else except Jenna knew... And they weren't exactly on friendship terms either. Alison was smirking.  
"It's not what it looked like." I shot back. She answered instantly.  
"Maybe not to you." I scowled and avoided the subject.  
"What were you doing here anyway? What the hell did I ever do to you?"  
"You've been peeping in my window for years." She stated accusingly. I glared.  
"Never! I have never looked in your window." I'd never done anything of the sort. I took measures to avoid going anywhere near her house as much as possible. And I'd definitely never done anything to justify her calling me a pervert.  
"Well I've looked in yours." She snapped. My glare turned into confusion. "And we're not taking the blame for this." She smirked again, believing that she was winning this argument. I fumed; there was no way I'd let her get away with this crime.  
" _Oh yes you are_."  
"No, not unless you want the entire world to know how close you are with your step-sister." I froze. What did she know about me and Jenna? The corners of her mouth flickered upward. She could see that I was worried and she was enjoying it. "You talk and I'll make sure everybody knows you've been doing it with her!" My breath caught in my throat. I stuttered, unable to speak. She grinned back. That's what she meant when she'd said about looking in my window. But if she'd seen what happened then she would know the truth.  
"That's not true. You know that's not how it is. _You know it's her_." I spoke fearfully. She shook her head, still grinning spitefully.  
"That's not how everyone else will see it." She was right. No one would believe the truth; our parents, everyone at school... the authorities. They would all think that I would have been the one to pressure Jenna. Jenna had known that too, and she'd used the same point to blackmail me several times into things I didn't want to do. And now it was happening all over again, except Alison was the one getting what she wanted.  
"You wouldn't dare..." I attempted, trying to sound intimidating.  
"Oh yes I would." She spat back. My anger crumbled and I realised she was right. Of course she would. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone sneaking out from behind the fire engine. I turned my head slightly to look. It was one of Alison's minions; the cute one, Spencer. She watched us nervously with a worried expression. Well at least one of them looked guilty about what they'd done. Alison frowned and followed my gaze, also spotting her friend. She quickly turned back to me.  
"I will make _sure_ everybody knows." She threatened before hurrying over to Spencer and dragging her away.

I was still frozen to the spot once she'd left, her threats echoing in my head. I couldn't think straight. If she let this secret out then no doubt I'd be classed as a rapist. I wouldn't even be surprised if Jenna took the chance to throw me in at the deep end by saying it was all my doing. This would completely ruin my life. I had no choice. Everything around me was a blur. Someone was talking to me but I couldn't hear them. My fear had blocked out my senses and I was trapped within my mind with Alison's threats hanging over me.

"Excuse me son... Mr Cavanaugh? Can you tell me what has happened here?" I finally registered them speaking. I glanced up to see a police officer looking at me with a frown. I opened my mouth to speak but I didn't know what to say. I couldn't let her win. But I had to if _that_ was the cost. I stuttered something about a fire, but didn't say any names. He nodded and jotted the details down. "We've been informed that this hasn't happened by accident, that this is arson. Do you know of anyone that might have done this?" I hesitated and he latched onto the pause, knowing that I was holding back information. "Mr Cavanaugh, if you have _any_ idea about who did this then you _need_ to tell us." I struggled to think, to come up with some plan where I could get Alison and not pay her price for it. But there was nothing. She was a bitch, but she was always true to her word when making threats. I was crumbling under the pressure and the officer narrowed his eyes. He was suspecting me. "Sir, I think we're going to need to question you down at the station." He said sternly. I felt my heart rate increase and my head was still spinning. He clamped a firm hand on my shoulder and I finally cracked.  
" _It was me. I did it._ "

After that everything happened so quickly. The officer raised an eyebrow in surprise and then proceeded to tell me my rights as he marched me to the police car. I climbed into the back and stared out of the window as the last of the fire was extinguished. I heard him radio a message back to the station before climbing into the driver's seat and pulling away. As we drove I noticed Alison and her posse stepping out of their hiding spot and watching as I was taken away. Even at this distance I could see her smirk. I glared. If no-one else got there first, I would kill the bitch.


End file.
